Chris McCoy, an entrepreneur and leader often described as a "Purple American Democrat," has made significant contributions to the intersection of technology and public policy through his work on Data4America and as the CEO of STORE Research, Inc. Growing up in Kelso, Washington on food stamps and free lunch, Chris witnessed firsthand the timber industry's decline and its impact on community resilience, shaping his understanding of economic transition challenges that would later inform his approach to technology and governance.
His journey took an unexpected turn when a neck injury ended his promising baseball career (91-92 mph fastball) at the University of Washington. Converting his understanding of athletic biomechanics into entrepreneurial ventures, Chris began teaching "feet to fingertips" kinetic energy to young pitchers, launching his first business while still in college. This led to co-founding I Love Baseball in 2005, a foundation that helps children in the Dominican Republic pursue both their baseball dreams and education simultaneously.
Inspired by NaShuntae Pleasant-Miles, an influential 1999 Washington DECA State President who passed away from a brain tumor in 2003, Chris followed her leadership example by serving as Washington DECA State President and later National DECA President. He later co-founded NaShuntae's Gift with her father Nate Miles (who became a key investor and mentor in Chris's early entrepreneurial ventures), creating a scholarship that honors NaShuntae's legacy by supporting students demonstrating perseverance and excellence.
In 2023, answering his great uncle Kirby McCoy's challenge to "do something great for the kids of Kelso," Chris implemented Hilander Democracy for his hometown—a real-world experiment in BFT Democracy that powers the Hilander Hall of Fame, celebrating over a century of Kelso's rich history. This innovative governance framework uses multi-layered thresholds to ensure transparent, verifiable decisions while maintaining community connection through in-person gatherings.
Throughout his career, Chris has demonstrated a unique ability to bridge diverse domains - from athletics to technology to governance systems. He founded Data4America, a nonpartisan platform dedicated to advancing understanding of American innovation and public policy through data-driven content. As America has grown increasingly divided, Chris has remained dedicated to leaning into purple, helping advance understanding of critical issues from monetary policy to economic growth, housing, crypto, and AI.
As the CEO of STORE Research, Inc., Chris leads the development of the STORE protocol, a decentralized cloud computing protocol that democratizes access to computing resources. With his resilient background, transitioning from a mineral mining family in Oklahoma (where his grandfather played catch with Mickey Mantle's father in the mines) to being raised by a teen mom to a tech entrepreneur in California in just three generations, Chris is positioned to shape discourse around American innovation, democratic systems, and public policy in the years to come.
Lifemap is trusted history in 100 characters or less
• Grows up in a rural town with a single mother and two brothers
• Survives a car accident - age 5, causing a lifelong neck injury (kept secret from him)
• Starts his first business - age 6 (selling plums)
• Develops a love for reading and intellectual pursuits as an escape from family challenges
• Discovers his fourth cousin, Linus Pauling, is the only two-time solo Nobel Prize winner (chemistry, world peace) - age 10
• Moves in with his grandfather Jack - age 14
• Elected a Washington DECA state officer
• Becomes a highly-recruited baseball prospect, throwing a 91+ mph fastball
• Neck injury resurfaces, causing a significant drop in fastball velocity
• Elected Washington DECA State President
• Signs to play baseball for the Washington Huskies
• Wins National DECA Presidency and takes a gap year to serve
• Redshirts on the baseball team but retires to pursue tech entrepreneurship
• Starts a baseball training and e-commerce business called PitchSmarter
• Co-founds I Love Baseball, a non-profit in the Dominican Republic
• Sells baseball business to start his first tech company, a social network for sports history (YourSports)
• Survives the Great Financial Crisis, moves YS to Silicon Valley, teams up with Rag (lifelong CTO) to build
• Builds up the social network to 4mm semantically connected sports, interest, and geographical networks
• Recognized by Marc Andreessen as one of "55 Unknown Rockstars in Tech"
• Starts Data4America, a nonprofit exploring policy and data
• Files for a Bitcoin-based wallet patent, beginning his crypto innovation journey
• Retires from YourSports and starts Footprint, a chat system for franchises & chains
• Marries Ciara, a native San Franciscan and UCLA track star (steeplechaser!)
• Realizes the potential of zero-fee settlement in the app layer
• Begins engineering STORE, a decentralized democracy, and designing BlockFinBFT consensus algorithm
• Twin daughters born
• Builds STORE, a democratized cloud
• Receives U.S. patent for BlockFinBFT
• Ships permanent storage+ on STORE and launches the first verifiable, high-performance cloud (governed by BFT Democracy)• Finally leans in to his connection to the Pauling family's intellectual legacy
• Happily raises twin girls+ in 🌉 with Ciara
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